A first look at the updated Google TV interface from Google's HQ in Mountain …

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Google’s smart TV software platform, Google TV, is poised for its first significant overhaul since it launched in Logitech and Sony hardware a year ago. Via over-the-air updates that should begin streaming to hardware devices on October 30, Google TV users will find new TV-optimized Android Apps, an improved YouTube experience, and new features that provide easy, direct discovery of TV and movie content.

All this Googly goodness is wrapped up in a new user interface that aims to simplify a challenging information design—a design that has left many Google TV customers with a persistent sense of yuck.

An inauspicious debut

When Google TV launched, it was supposed to seamlessly co-mingle “live TV” (read: broadcast, satellite, and cable) with streaming video services like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Video On Demand. You could also use your Google TV software to search the Web, and even access digital content from your home network or attached storage.

In theory: Fantastic. In practice: Difficult to use.

Whether you were running a Google TV set-top box manufactured by Logitech or Sony, or directly tapping into the Google TV software installed in various Sony TVs, you were faced with a series of menus that defied easy access and discovery of the content you actually wanted to see. And it’s also possible you bought your Google TV in the mistaken belief that it’s a “cord-cutting” platform—that it would allow you to nix your cable or satellite service, and instead watch your favorite TV shows via direct Internet streaming.

After all, the TV networks stream full TV episodes directly from their websites. So Google TV must be the perfect delivery system for that content, right?

No, not so fast. The networks summarily blocked their online content from appearing on Google TV, giving a large subset of early adopters one more reason to kvetch about a hardware purchase they wished they never made.

Well, all dreams of cord-cutting should be put to rest. As Rishi Chandra, director of product management, Google TV, told me, “There was a perception that we were a cord-cutting product, and that’s something that we didn’t do enough to dispel. Our point of view is that there’s new content coming, content that you just haven’t been able to access with your TV. Now we’re bringing that content, and adding the discovery experience on top of it.”

So, no, Google TV can’t be your all-in-one, zero-compromises, Internet-only video delivery system. But what it can do well—namely, deliver YouTube, Netflix and other Web-based video to your HDTV—is about to get better. I recently traveled to Google’s headquarters for a hands-on demo of the new software, and what I saw is a substantial improvement over Google's existing (however compromised) status quo.

Here are four key improvements you’ll see in the next version of Google TV. (Sony hardware devices will begin receiving over-the-air updates on Sunday, with Sony updates continuing through the middle of next week. Over-the-air updates for Logitech hardware will begin shortly thereafter.)

Improved user interface

The first version of Google TV included a home screen that dominated your TV display whenever you summoned its presence. This original home screen, littered with gigantic thumbnails, was obtrusive by any measure.

The new home screen, however, is defined by a simple menu bar at the bottom of your display (see screenshot above). It’s clean, simple, and simply more fashion-forward than its predecessor. Likewise, the new Google TV software features a revised view of your All Apps menu. The old view listed apps in a long, single-file list arrangement. The new view (see screenshot below) mimics an Android Honeycomb tablet interface. Apps are arranged in rows of four, and the arrangement is customizable.

These may not seem like big changes—unless you’re already using Google TV, and have spent the last year coping with a cluttered, “something’s sort of ‘off’ here” UI. From what I saw in my hands-on demo, various key interface elements have been tweaked and finessed to do away with Google TV’s previously horsey (or at least user-antagonistic) design sensibility.

TV and movie discovery

The original version of Google TV had all the necessary hooks into TV and movie content. It could catalog everything that was available from your cable or satellite provider, and also sort through all the content that was available from Internet-based video-on-demand sources (or at least the ones that weren’t blocking content). But actually finding the right content to watch was still quite difficult.

Sure, you could hit the search button of your Google TV remote, and key in an appropriate search term. But the results you received were anything but Googly in their depth and relevance, and weren’t aggregated across all of Google TV’s content sources.

This has been addressed in the new update. First, search results are now more comprehensive and detailed. Second, there’s a new TV & Movies app that lets you intuitively browse for high-end video content, using a full slate of filters to narrow choices pulled from cable and satellite, as well as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, HBO GO and other premium online sources.

When you browse content in the new app, you can head straight to various thematic headings (e.g., comedy, drama, sports) to window shop for a video that suits your fancy. You can also sort by video quality, price, and according to when a video is playing (e.g., “On Now”). And these are just the low-hanging fruit of more civilized content-surfacing. Chandra says that if users opt-in, Google TV will also create browsing choices that respond to personal preferences.

And, wait, it gets more clever than that. Says Chandra: “Once you open up this canvas to other tools available on the Web, we can ask, ‘What are people tweeting about right now? What are people watching right now?’ There are all these different dimensions that can help us reorganize what we’re watching.”

OK, I’m not sure I want my friends—let alone the great unwashed Internet masses—nudging me toward the last 15 minutes of Bridalplasty. But I’m still heartened to learn that Google thinks a content-surfacing tool for Bridalplasty is an interesting thing to build.

Vastly improved YouTube

In the grand scheme of all the hardware you may ever connect to your TV, Google TV has always delivered an excellent YouTube experience. Its YouTube functionality is better than what you’ll get from so-called “home theater PCs,” Blu-ray players equipped with YouTube apps, and YouTube apps built directly into the “connected TV” services of the latest HDTVs.

In fact, for its YouTube and Netflix features alone, I think Google TV—even the first version of the platform—is a smart purchase for anyone who can’t already get these content streams from existing living room hardware. After all, Logitech’s Google TV set-top box, the Revue, costs only $99.

And now a much-improved YouTube app makes Google TV even better. That’s good news for YouTube junkies, and there must be a few out there as Google says YouTube boasts 800 million monthly viewers.

Google TV’s new YouTube app is, at its heart, a TV-optimized Android app that’s been fine-tuned for speedy video delivery and a 10-foot user interface. During my demo, I was astounded by how quickly videos loaded. Load times were so quick, in fact, I asked Chandra if popular videos were sitting in ultra-speedy cache on Google servers.

No, Chandra said. The fast load times were solely the result of software optimizations. Google focused on improving how quickly the YouTube app pings its servers, leveraging all the software optimization tricks that Google deployed for YouTube in mobile devices. (Indeed, YouTube on phones and tablets must already copy with low-bandwidth, high-latency connections, so optimization has always been key to an Android YouTube strategy).

When all was said and done, Chandra said, Google wanted Google TV to flip between videos as fast a satellite box flips between channels. We’ll see how this plays out during hands-on testing, but the load times we saw at Google HQ impressed us, to be sure.

Also impressive: Viewing full-screen, professionally produced, HD video on the YouTube app. I was wowed by the clarity and definition of HD content, and for the first time, I really wanted to find more YouTube video to check out.

Well, the new app makes this easier thanks to a channel-building feature that creates custom videos playlists on the fly. Just enter a term into the YouTube app’s search field, and it will spit out a thematic selection of videos that you can peruse at top speed, “pivoting,” as Google likes to describe it, from one video to the next. The screenshot above illustrates a search for “Katy Perry.”

Bottom line: If you’ve ever used YouTube’s “Lean Back” mode on your computer desktop, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what YouTube now brings to Google TV.

Except the Google TV delivery seems faster.

A new home for Android apps

In the most significant Google TV update of all, Android Apps now have a home on your big-screen TV.

Obviously, not all the apps in Android Market would even work for TV-screen deployment. For example, those that reply on touch gestures or GPS just wouldn’t make sense for Google TV (at least not as the platform is currently deployed). But Chandra estimates some 1,500 existing apps are already Google TV-compatible, and these will appear in the “filtered” version of Android Market that appears in the new software interface.

The real app gems, however, will be found in Google TV’s “Featured For TV” section. These apps—30 should be available at launch—have been expressly developed for big-screen deployment, and Google TV’s unique talents.

The new version of Google TV includes direct access to Android Market. A select group of 30 apps, directly optimized for Google TV, will appear in the Featured For TV section shown above. Hundreds more—Google TV-compatible, but not expressly optimized—will surface if you dig further.

Sure, one app I saw demoed is nothing more than a wrapper for an HD yule-log video (see Classy Fireplace in the screenshot above). But others are game apps (yes, Google TV is now a tenable platform for casual games), and the best apps will likely be the ones that deliver premium video content.

It’s quite ingenious: Google TV’s new Android initiative allows video-savvy media companies to do an end-run around licensing and distribution deals with the cable and satellite networks. Whether your media company is an indie upstart or a blue-chip heavyweight, this holds promise.

Take, for example, the Wall Street Journal. “They’re a premium brand,” says Chandra, “and they have great content, but they don’t want to build a 24-7 news cycle. They don’t want to negotiate deals to get content on the air, and they don’t want to pay to get access to users. So what do they do? They build an app.”

The possibilities: Dizzying. The proof: It remains in the pudding.

But as Mario Queiroz, Google’s vice president of product management, told me, Google considers Google TV to be a marathon project, not a sprint.

“We ask, ‘How can we make the product better?’ instead of belaboring what’s being said,” Queiroz said. “We’ve tried to take what we could use constructively, and build a better product with version 2. As a Google mantra, we always launch early and iterate.”

And iterate they will. Google will soon announce new chipset partners for brand new Google TV hardware in 2012 (Samsung and Vizio are already on board). So, no, the story of Google TV does not begin and end with a single software version, or just a small collection of set-top boxes and TVs from Sony and Logitech.

Google TV is real and its ambition levels remain high. Stay tuned for hands-on reviews of the new version software and upcoming Google TV hardware.

Anyone know if current google tv hardware can handle ustream/justin.tv live feeds well @ decent resolution? Debating whether to pick up a revue, roku, or cheap pc for exercise room... (Roku in bedroom; htpc in living room)

The original pitch was ABSOLUTELY that Google TV was a cord-cutting product. That was why anyone cared at all. Amazing to see they've backed away from that completely.

There's nothing compelling about YouTube, Netflix and Pandora delivery to the TV--Apple TV and Roku have those sorts of things wrapped up completely. Oh, and Xbox 360 and PS3 as well. Maybe apps will be interesting, but Apple TV plus any iOS device seems to have that space wrapped up pretty good as it is. It's not like major content providers are rushing to make AirPlay streaming apps--if anything, ABC Player and the NBC app on iOS actively work to thwart AirPlay streaming, so you'll buy the shows from iTunes instead.

I'm not sure what this product delivers that's new at all, and I think it's quite a stretch that apps will differentiate the product in a way that Apple TV hasn't already explored.

In the second picture, notice the "Google TV Spotl" icon? Nice attention to detail, Google.

Tacky.

Is this not a common way to handle long names in pretty much any mobile OS these days? i.e fade out for items with long names? (if you look closely it actually says 'Spotlig' and begins to fade out on the G).

You also can't really tell how the UI would work. Perhaps once selected it scrolls the text...

The original pitch was ABSOLUTELY that Google TV was a cord-cutting product. That was why anyone cared at all. Amazing to see they've backed away from that completely.

There's nothing compelling about YouTube, Netflix and Pandora delivery to the TV--Apple TV and Roku have those sorts of things wrapped up completely. Oh, and Xbox 360 and PS3 as well. Maybe apps will be interesting, but Apple TV plus any iOS device seems to have that space wrapped up pretty good as it is. It's not like major content providers are rushing to make AirPlay streaming apps--if anything, ABC Player and the NBC app on iOS actively work to thwart AirPlay streaming, so you'll buy the shows from iTunes instead.

I'm not sure what this product delivers that's new at all, and I think it's quite a stretch that apps will differentiate the product in a way that Apple TV hasn't already explored.

Well, originally it was going to work that way but as the article mentioned, the content was blocked by companies eager to maintain more profitable distribution schemes. I think the goal here (as opposed to AppleTV, Roku, etc) is to put online content on the same level as broadcast/cable/satellite. Sure you can always plug in a small computer or laptop and get everything streaming at any time in your browser or buy stuff from iTunes and dock your device. The point is that lots of people still seem to have a block when it comes to plugging a computer into the TV and even when they do find a more appliance-like device, it's a different input, different guide, different menu, etc.

The goal here is to legitimize online content and put it on even ground with broadcast. If you search for something you get results from online or from your cable box. You stay in the same menu, same guide, etc. It helps to blur the lines rather than adding barriers. As lazy and afraid of change as some people seem to be, you would be amazed to find that anyone is willing to power up the Roku and switch inputs to watch Youtube or Netflix at all.

I like the idea of GoogleTV because the underlying concept is a real sea change in the way TV is treated. The more people realize the extent of online distribution and the less barriers are in place, the less power cable and broadcast have over what is available. Once you get used to search and query at your fingertips at any given time, it is hard to go back to limited, scheduled content.

The Boxee box uses the same you tube interface, and honestly I HATE it. More often than not I just load up the website in the browser. I will watch some SC2 videos and often times the following games are linked as replies to the previous game, well you can't see video replies on that interface. There is also no way to go to a users channel to watch their videos. and the last issue is no way to change resolution that I have found, so I'm stuck as something less than 1080p for videos that I know have it.

So overall, I don't really enjoy it, but I will say that it is easier to navigate what is there even if it s incomplete.

I dunno, I'm kinda looking forward to this -- it might be the update that finally turns my GoogleTV into something other than an overpriced, unusually large and unusually clunky Netflix box.

Probably not, but I still have hope.

Also, Google: thank you for giving me one for free. I would be SUPER-pissed if I'd had to pay for this hunk of junk. As it stands I've merely been somewhat irked that I haven't been able to convince my wife to get a more capable box since we already had GoogleTV.

The original pitch was ABSOLUTELY that Google TV was a cord-cutting product. That was why anyone cared at all. Amazing to see they've backed away from that completely.

There's nothing compelling about YouTube, Netflix and Pandora delivery to the TV--Apple TV and Roku have those sorts of things wrapped up completely.

No, that's not the compelling part of what GoogleTV could offer. Those are just things it needs to support well in order to be on the same level as a Roku or an AppleTV. Those are things it needs to master before it surpasses any other device out there by supporting local content better or doing something entirely new.

It's so hard to find decent quality information on what the Logitech Revue supports or not. As per your experience, Can I plug-in an external portable or desktop hard drive and read my media? I know it supports DLNA so that's good. Does it accept any other media player (VLC for ex) instead of Logitech Media player?

I'd like to see a review of the Revue that focuses on how well it can handle a large local video library. Does it include local results with streamed sources when searching? Is it easy to browse through your own collection of movies/music/pictures? What formats does it support and how easy is it to add new content? Can it handle DVD and/or Bluray ISOs?

The original pitch was ABSOLUTELY that Google TV was a cord-cutting product. That was why anyone cared at all. Amazing to see they've backed away from that completely.

There's nothing compelling about YouTube, Netflix and Pandora delivery to the TV--Apple TV and Roku have those sorts of things wrapped up completely.

No, that's not the compelling part of what GoogleTV could offer. Those are just things it needs to support well in order to be on the same level as a Roku or an AppleTV. Those are things it needs to master before it surpasses any other device out there by supporting local content better or doing something entirely new.

I'm hoping that this comes with a better DNLA client. I'm still stuck using my PS3 to watch the stuff I have on my computer because the client that came with Google is balls for actually being able to SEE or PLAY anything.

I'm evidently in the minority of people who saw GoogleTV as a way to easily search for content on my Dish service. "Typing" the name of a show to search for on Dish, DirectTV, Comcast, etc. is one of the more painful things about those systems - so the fact that I could use a keyboard or even my freaking phone to find the show I want to record was a godsend. I can't even count the number of times we've used it.

I was looking for a Netflix-capable device and almost bought a Roku when Logitech dumped the price of the Revue to $99, so I went for it and I haven't regretted that decision yet. Have there been times that I've been frustrated with it? Absolutely. Trying to watch Flash content that ISN'T YouTube is utterly pointless - half the time it crashes the silly thing and I have to pull the power.

So I'm hopeful this Honeycomb update will fix it. I've personally never had a problem with the current UI (I'm not retarded so apparently I can figure out how to navigate it) but the new layout does look great. I'm excited for this!

I remember all the rage on the internets how Google TV was gonna crush anything out there! Just like the Kindle fire. The internets is an amazing visionary indeed. It seems like the sinking ship will sink even faster with additional ballast.

In the second picture, notice the "Google TV Spotl" icon? Nice attention to detail, Google.

Tacky.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Old meme is old.

How about arguing on content instead of meme choices? Do you prefer this amazing attention to detail?:

Oh yeah, I could totally tell that icon was "Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain!" Good thing Apple pays more attention to detail than Google.

Rolling through your previous posts, you seem to have a lot of opinions and nothing to back them up. Please go away if you have nothing useful to add to the discussion. Alternatively, show me a better implementation of shortening an icon's name before railing on someone else's.

It's so hard to find decent quality information on what the Logitech Revue supports or not. As per your experience, Can I plug-in an external portable or desktop hard drive and read my media? I know it supports DLNA so that's good. Does it accept any other media player (VLC for ex) instead of Logitech Media player?

thx

Yes, you can currently plug in a USB external drive directly into the Revue and access the content via the Logitech Media player. On the main screen, you can choose between DLNA servers or the attached storage. Currently, there is no alternative media player, but I suspect the addition of the App Market to this new GoogleTV update will open the floodgates for things like VLC player, which already exist on other Android devices. It's just a matter of someone porting them to work on GoogleTV.

qchronod wrote:

I'd like to see a review of the Revue that focuses on how well it can handle a large local video library. Does it include local results with streamed sources when searching? Is it easy to browse through your own collection of movies/music/pictures? What formats does it support and how easy is it to add new content? Can it handle DVD and/or Bluray ISOs?

Inquiring minds want to know...

It doesn't currently support mounting an ISO file and playing it back directly, but I've played 1080p Bluray rips and 720p DVD rips (MKV, with AAC audio and h.261 video format) and they run beautifully. The only thing that may cause hiccups is multiple language tracks and subtitles (neither of which are supported in the UI, so you can't pick the one you want) or unsupported video streams (like WMV hi-def streams, which won't work.)

Getting around the multiple language tracks and subtitles is as easy as using an MKV editor, whose name escapes me, to remove everything but the English audio track and the video stream, and re-saving the file.

Also, for some reason, the Logitech player doesn't directly support MKV files when I use TVersity as my DLNA server to stream them, but renaming the files to mp4 makes them show up in the list and play fine. It's kind of quirky, but hopefully will be resolved by an updated version of the media player and/or third-party apps.

HTPC's are a dead end market share wise, what Google should be doing is getting the GoogleTV platform in as any many platforms as possible, the piece of crap Cisco PVR I got my my cable TV provider is something out of the dark ages technologically.

I got a great deal with a Sony Bravia with google tv built inside. Seeing how I wasn't planning on buying a seperate player I think it works decently though I pretty much only use it for two things, watching Netflix and using the keyboard to search for channels and shows. I love the remote with keyboard the tv comes with.

Looking forward to improvements, just wish they had not taken so long to push them.

Too bad the media companies are absolutely determined to stop any universal solution (though it's entirely expected). Maybe more devices which unify everything except them will help them pull their heads out of their a$$es and join the revolution instead of fighting it.

More power to Google and anyone else that puts non-traditional viewing in more hands.